Mitra Nejad, BS,1 and Kevin Miller, MD1,2
1
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
2Jules Stein Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, David
Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
The authors have no financial interest in the
subject matter of this poster
Purpose: To compare the compliance of the aspiration tubing in six
different phacoemulsification machines.
Methods: The capacitance and tubing compliance of the INFINITI Vision
System (Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, Texas), with Intrepid and
Standard cassettes, the WhiteStar Signature phacoemulsification
system (Abbott Medical Optics, Santa Ana, California) and the Stellaris
Vision Enhancement System (Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, New York),
were measured. Also tested were older models from same three
manufacturers. After each system was primed using Balanced Salt
Solution (BSS), the aspiration line was connected to an electronic
pressure transducer and digital oscilloscope. Small volumes of fluid were
injected and aspirated from the aspiration line to generate pressurevolume curves for each consumable pack.
Results: Under controlled laboratory settings, the INFINITI system with
Intrepid tubing demonstrated the lowest compliance while the Legacy
proved to be the most compliant. The AMO and Bausch and Lomb
systems exhibited very similar pressure-volume curves.
Conclusions: The lower compliance of the INFINITI Intrepid system should
lessen the hazards associated with occlusion break surge, thus
enhancing clinical performance and safety.
The fluidic subsystems of the phacoemuslfiers
used in cataract surgery account for a large
portion of their performance and safety profiles.
 A system’s compliance is a measure of its ability
to expand or contract in response to applied fluidic
pressure.
 Compliance, which is the inverse of stiffness, is
defined as ∆volume/∆pressure.
 In phacoemulsification systems, aspiration line
compliance is a function of the mechanical
properties of the aspiration tubing and the
cassette that mates with the pump mechanism.
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When the tip of a phacoemulsification or irrigation–aspiration
probe becomes occluded, the pump stops turning once the
system senses that vacuum limit has been reached.
Variable amounts of potential energy are stored in the walls of
the tubing and cassette depending on the compliance of these
components and the vacuum limit set by the surgeon.
Vacuum is useful for holding onto and aspirating solid lens
fragments, but occlusion break can cause problems when it
happens under high vacuum.
At occlusion break, the potential energy stored in the tubing and
cassette suddenly releases, causing a sudden suctioning of fluid
from the eye to fill the recoiled volume.
The anterior chamber collapses in response to the sudden loss
of volume, risking damage to the cornea, iris, or lens capsule.
Occlusion break surge might possibly be eliminated if
phacoemulsification systems could be designed that had zero
compliance.
In a previous experiment, we demonstrated a measurable
difference in occlusion surge between the 3 leading
manufacturer's newest phacoemulsification systems. At
equivalent vacuum limits, the primary determinant of surge
amplitude is the system compliance.
 As a next logical step in our studies, we decided to measure
the compliance of the new and old phacoemulsifiers from
Alcon, AMO and Bausch & Lomb.

Systems Studied:
Bausch and Lomb:
Stellaris Vision Enhancement system
Millennium Micorsurgical system
Alcon Laboratories Inc:
INFINITI Vision system (both Intrepid
and Standard tubing)
Advantec Legacy
Abbot Medical Optics:
WhiteStar Signiture
Whitestar Sovereign
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Before measuring compliance, cassettes (phaco packs) were loaded into
each of the 6 phacoemulsifiers and the devices were primed with
balanced salt solution, taking care to eliminate all air bubbles.

An electronic pressure transducer was connected to a power supply and a
digital storage oscilloscope. The irrigation line, aspiration line, and a 1ml
U-1100 latex free insulin syringe were connected to the transducer. The
pressure transducer was placed at the same height as the vacuum sensor
in the cassette of the machine under test.

To generate compliance curves for positive and negative fluid
displacements, balanced salt solution was injected and withdrawn from
the aspiration line in small increments. Measurements were obtained by
injecting 0.05 mL, recording the pressure, then withdrawing 9 increments
of 0.05 mL (a net withdrawal of 0.40 mL), recording the line pressure at
each point. The process was also reversed to test for hysteresis.
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Compliance curves were generated for 3 cassettes per phacoemulsifier
and averaged. In addition, 1 cassette per instrument was tested 3 times to
look for fatigue, which is a change in compliance with repeated testing. All
testing was done on the same day to minimize variability due to
atmospheric and temperature conditions.
•Additionally, the capacitance of
one cassette from each system
was measured. The volume held
in the aspiration tubing until the
very edge of the cassette was
recorded as well as the volume
needed to fill half of the pump
tubing in the cassette and the
volume needed to obtain one
drop of fluid in the bag.
Figure 1: Compliance curve for all six systems, in addition to the Infiniti standard tubing.
A steeper slope indicates a lower compliance.
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The 7 cassettes that were tested demonstrated similar compliance
curves under negative and positive pressure loading. Compliance curves
for all systems were reproducible between three different cassettes and
between three trials on one cassette. The Infiniti Intrepid tubing
demonstrated the least compliance (steepest curve) for both the average
of three cassettes and three runs on one cassette. The Legacy Advantec
proved the most compliant for both sets of data.
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The Infiniti Intrepid tubing showed significantly lower compliance than its
predecessor, the Legacy Advantec. Both, the Signature and the Stellaris
systems had less pronounced compliance difference as compared to the
previous generation units, the Sovereign and the Millenium, respectively.
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All six systems demonstrated a hysteresis when compliance curves
obtained by aspirating fluid and compliance curves obtained by
injecting fluid were compared. The curves for the newer models are
shown above.
The Alcon Infiniti standard and Infiniti Intrepid packs had three to four times
the fluid capacity of the other systems when comparing the capacitance
from the tip of the aspiration line to the bag because of an extra fluid
chamber held in the cassette. Since this chamber is filled after fluid has
passed the pump, this volume should not contribute to the compliance of
the tubing.
 Comparing the capacitance of the tubing half way through the pump
reveals that the Infiniti Intrepid and Infiniti standard packs have a
capacitance of 9.1 and 9.5 ml, respectively, compared to 5.3 mL for the
Signature and 7.5 mL for the Stellaris .
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The phacoemulsification system that has the lowest occlusion
break surge allows for the most effective and safest procedure.
 Since occlusion break surge is largely determined by the tubing’s
compliance, the same can be said for the system which is the
least compliant.
 Our results illustrate improvements in the fluidics of the newer
phacoemulsification systems by all three major manufacturers.
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Our study demonstrates that the Infiniti Intrepid tubing is the least
compliant and therefore should provide the best clinical
performance.